Cancer was my biggest blessing: Lisa Ray

'It may sound surprising, but my illness is the greatest gift I received as I got to see life from a different perspective', says actor Lisa Ray about her one year long fight with cancer. She shares about her journey with the disease.

Actor Lisa Ray, who fought a one-year battle with myeloma (a cancer of the white blood cells), says that the disease has been her 'biggest blessing'.

“It may sound surprising, but my illness is the greatest gift I received as I got to see life from a different perspective. It has really been like my rebirth. I have to admit that cancer reset everything in my life,” says the 40-year-old, who was in the capital on Wednesday.

Lisa was diagnosed with cancer in June 2009, and in April 2010, she was declared cancer free following a stem-cell transplant. “I want people to know that cancer is no death sentence. If one is diagnosed with it, one has to accept it, and believe me, it’s absolutely okay. I not only survived cancer but actually thrived on it,” she says, with a smile.

Ray is visibly excited about her impending marriage to Canada-based banker Jason Dehni on October 20 in California. “I feel blessed to have Jason in my life. We have been together for a year now. My wedding will have an Indian flavour. My close friends are hosting the sangeet a night before the wedding,” she says.